Collapsible tube



Jan. 6, 1942. R. M. SANDERS COLLAPSIBLE TUBE Filed June 28, 1939 INVENTOR RUDOLPH M. SANDERS Y @L W ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 6, 1942 2 oFFicE eoLLAPsreLnmU a I Ru lph M. san mk1 nm."r;" pplication June-2s, 1939';Serial No. 281,616"

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The-inventionrelates'in' general to collapsible containers and dispensers of the type now used for containing and dispensing semi-fluid substances like tooth paste; paints; and other merchandise.

vide an improved form-of such containers which can beconstructed' economically both in the amount of'material used and in the laborinvolved and which at the same time-will provide figuration until intentionally collapsed in theact ofrejecting its-contents:

Stil-lanother'objectofthe invention is-to pro= vide -an-axially collapsible tube" form of container which during its-entire period of' usewilbbe provided with a flat baseto-maintain the tube in upstanding position and-which" both "initially and at least during-the" early stages of it'suse will provide a smooth outer'face'adaptedto con-' tain' printing or to which maybeaffixed a label and inthis way-maintainexposed'for practically the life -ofthe container advertisingmatter," di-" rections' and other printed-matterusually-found on-tubular containers of this character." In gen collapsible container which while "permittingidis tortionin the sense of permitting collapsing in the direction-'ofits axis will; resistirregu-la'r' or messy mutilation and thus tend to present a more pleasing 'form of package than" has been-"known heretofore;

Various other objectsand"advantagesof the invention will be'inpart'obviousfrQmaninspec tion' of I the accompanying" drawing'and'in part will be-morefully setforth in the following particular description of one form of container embodying the" invention, and; the invention" also consists in certainnew and novel features of"con'-" struction andcombination of set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:" Fig. 1- is an enlarged" View partly'in axial sec tion' of a collapsiblecontainer illustrating a preferred embodiment of theinvention in-its-initial distended form Fig; 2-is an enlargedsectional View of the bottom portion of thecontainer when finally collapsed;

Fig.3 is an axial view of 'a' portion of the cylinderwall of a modified form of'the invention taken onthe-line 3 -3; and

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional the line14 4:of Fig;13. or In the drawing. and referring'first to the show-P viewtaken" on parts hereinafter The primary'object of theinvention is to pro"-" lQ suflicientstructural strength tomaintainitscom ing in-xFig; 1, there is discloseda container formed primarily of twopartsjabody I I and. a closurecapll'i The body" I l 'isjof tubular form and "preferablyfformedf of a'fle'xible and" comparativelynon=resilientimaterial and is of cylindrical form with anrinfc'lined topwall I31and threaded neck" I4 adapted to receive the conventionalformpfclosure cap; The lower end of the cylinder "'II'isprovided withfa'n' outwardly extending flange I5. I

It is a feature of "this disclosure that the outer face lfir ofthe' cylindef'bOdy' II is smooth and designed to be printedftor stamped with printed matter usually foundin structures of thischar acter. 1 Projecting inwardly {and integrally from the'cylinder or1body"Ilis'iafrib llbf spiral form extending from' end to endfof'the cylinder. While the rib I'I is:ill'ustrated as formed integral with the'cylinderwalh it is obviously within the scope of'the'inventionto'form the rib as a separate a spring and attach it as by welding or other means to the; inner'face'of'the" cylinder II, or even to leave it unattached. H Q

Referring to the'closurecapv I2 it is preferably 2 formed as a'stampin'g, and includes an outlining eral the-invention features 'the provi'ding'of a' I annular ring {I 8 i forming a' bottom for the 'container considered'as a whole. {The outer edge of this flange is provided with an'extension I 9 which ist'inturned and laps about'the oustanding flange I5 to secure the cap I 2 rigidly to the body 'I I."

The; central portion of .'thecap' I2 is pressed up-. wardly to"formacylindricalportion 2| and re-' ducedtherefrom tofo'rman inverted cup 20; the sidewall" 2I of which is of "annular form and spaced inwardly from the adjacentside of the cylinder I I to form an annular recess 22 of a size sufficient in length tore'ceive all," or, substantially all; ofthe collapsed wall as shown 'inFig. 2.

I Referring to themodifiedshowing 'of the-cylinder' 231in Figs. 3iand'f4, theispiral rib I! of the Fig. -l jandlFig".fl2 jjs fowings hasbeen replaced by a series of inwardly extending projections or ribs 24which are arranged in vertically spaced apart planes. that-:is planesspaced along the-"axis of the-body portion which axis is indicated by the line a-.-b. Considering the projections in any one-=plane,itis notedifrom the showingin Fig. 4 that the ribs,.1in that case two in'number, are circumferentiallyJspaced apart and in this particular. instance are spaced apart with plain are or 'uncorrugatedregionsZitherebetWeenI It is' als'o rnotedi from the showing in Fig; 3;:that eachfzrib: in any-"one=plane "is located-fopposite the 1unmarrugated portions25 betweenvthe c'or responding ribs in the next adjacent plane or planes.

As these inward projections from the column provided by the cylinder walls constitute reinforcements to the walls, it follows that the walls themselves need not have the structure strength to resist distortion as they would necessarily have to possess if these reinforcing elements were absent. It is therefore possible to effect a saving in the amount of material used in forming the cylinders to minimize the cross sectional area of material used perhaps even to the point where the tube per se would not have sufficient structural strength to maintain its own configuration when in use. However, the reinforcing ribs irrespective as to whether they maybe of the spiral form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or the annular ring-like form or portions of circles shown in Fig. 3, are apt to supplement any inherent weakness in the tube and provide in the completedstructur a form of container which will possess sufficient structural strength to'function in its intended capacity, not only as a container but also as a means for ejecting itscontents through the opening in the throat when pressure is applied to the closure cap.

In operation and referring first to the disclosure in Figs. 1 and 2, it will be understood that when pressure is applied to cause the bottom formed by the cap [2 to approach the open top the spiral rib progressively collapses and in effect functions as would a metal spring of similar contour. As the spring-like rib ll collapses, it will, of course, tend to expand radially which means that each turn of the spring will tend to break down the initial columnar form of the portion of the wall between the turns of the spiral rib and in this way there will be a tendency to avoid localizing the collapsing of the tube to any portion thereof and the general effect will be a gradual shrinking in length of the tube considered as a whole.

, Referring to the operation of the forms of tube shown in Fig. 3, substantially the same action takes place except that in thesecases the collapsing of the tube takes place in succeeding planes of action, the bottom area contracting axially before there is any noticeable contraction in the uppermost planes and particularly with reference to the showing in Fig. 3, the outer face of the tube is maintained in its initial smooth condition for a longer period of use than is possible with the present known 'forms' of similar container.

I claim:

1. A merchandise container and dispenser including a tubular wall collapsible in the direction of its axis in ejecting its contents, and having an outer printing face adapted to provide a smooth surface to receive printing, stamping, or a label, said wall provided with a spirally formed reinforcing integral rib projecting inwardly from the inner face of the wall and adapted to be collapsed axially and to distend radially during the axial collapsing of the tubular wall and acting in its radial distention to break down the initial columnar form of the portions of the wall between the turns of the spiral rib.

2. A container including a tubular wall collapsible in the direction of its axis and having a circularly continuous outer face adapted to provide a smooth printing surface, said wall provided with an integral rib extending at an angle to the axis and coacting with an adjacent portion of the wall to provide sectional areas of material of different thicknesses at the line of intersection of the wall with an axial plane.

3. A container including a tubular wall collapsible in the direction of its axis, having an outer face free of projections to form a smooth surface and provided with a spiral spring engaging the inner face of the wall and acting to break down the columnar form of the wall as it is collapsed.

4. A container including a tubular wall formed primarily of a single thickness of material and reinforcing means engaging one face of the wall and coacting therewith to provide the necessary structural strength to the wall to maintain its configuration, said means being collapsible with the wall in the direction of its axis and acting on the wall during collapsing to corrugate the wall.

5-..A collapsible container including a tubular wall. having a plurality of thickened portions forming inwardly projecting ribs having convex inner faces, said ribs arranged in lines contained in planes spaced apart axially of the tubular wall, the ribs of each line being circumferentially spaced apart, and the ribs of each line offset circumferentially from the ribs of the next adjacent line thereby to stagger the ribs.

6. A container including a tubular body having a wall with long portions of greater thickness of material than the portions, of the wall therebetween and said portions being in circumferentially spaced apart relation and in planes spaced apart axially of the tubular body and each portion being of elliptical form when considered in the plane in which it is contained.

7. A container including a tubular body collapsible in the direction of its axis and the wall of which is initially of cylindrical form and provided on its'inner face with thickened portions to form the wall, of undulatory form along a straight line defined bythe intersection of the wall by an axial plane and also of undulatory form along a closed line defined by the intersection of the wall with a plane perpendicular to theaxis one end of the body being free of said thickened portion and thus of cylindrical form, havingan outstanding flange defining said end, a preformed base having a cylindrical portion fitted in said cylindrical end of the body, said base provided with an outstanding flange forming a wide-spreadingring-like support for the container and in engagement with the flange on the body and an extension from the base flange overlapping the outstanding flange on the body.

8. A one-piece tube collapsible in the direction of its axis and provided with a line of spaced apart solid ribs additional to the material outlining the tube and contained in a plane perpendicular to said axis.

9. A container including a tubuluar body collapsible in the direction of its axis and provided with a plurality of ribs additional to the material forming the tubular body portion integral with and projecting from the tubular body and spaced apart thereon both axially and circumferentially.

10. A container including a tubular body collapsible in the direction of its axis and provided with a horizontal outstanding flange defining its lower end, a cap for closing the lower end of said body including an annular ring forming a support for the upstanding body, the outer edge of the ring being inturned in'lapping engagement with the flange to secure the cap to the body,

the central portion of the cap projecting integrally upwardly from the inner edge of the ring into the interior of the body and providing therewith an annular space adapted to receive the lower portion of the body when collapsed into the same.

11.A container including a tubular body collapsible in the direction of its axis, having a smooth outer surface, a reinforcing element at its inner face extending at an angle to the axis of the body, a cap for closing one end of the body and providing between itself and the adjacent end of the body an annular groove adapted to receive at least the adjacent ends of the body and element when collapsed towards the cap.

12. A merchandise container including an easily collapsible upstanding body portion initially of cylindrical form and thus free of corrugations and a bottom closure providing a flat broad based support for the body portion in its succeeding collapsed positions, and said body portion provided with means integral therewith for controlling the form into which the body portion may be collapsed when subjected to axially directed compression forces.

13. A merchandise container including an easily collapsible tubular body portion of nonelastic material, the outer surface of the body portion being initially smooth. and said body portion provided on its inner face with an inwardly extending integral projection.

14. A merchandise container including an easily collapsible tubular body portion of nonelastic material, the outer surface of the body portion being initially smooth and said body portion provided on its inner face with a plurality of integral extensions spaced apart lengthwise of the body. V

15. A merchandise container including an easily collapsible tubular body portion of nonelastic material and a spiral spring within the body portion and engaging the inner wall thereof.

16. A merchandise container including an easily collapsible tubular body portion initially smooth on its outer side prior to being collapsed and means on the inside thereof additional to the material forming the tubular body portion and acting thereon during axial collapsing of the container to cause the body portion to collapse in accordion fashion.

17. A merchandise container including an easily collapsible tubular body of non-elastic ma- I easily collapsible tubular body of non-elastic material provided at one end with an outstanding flange, a cap for closing said end of thebody, said cap including a portion of cup-like form intruded into the body and with a portion there- I of fitting in said end of the body, and said cap also including an annular ring forming a flat bottom to the container and extending in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the body, said annular ring provided with an extension overlapping the outstanding flange of the body, said cap providing a wide spreading base for supporting the container in an upstanding position and having a lap joint connection with the outstand- 

